Learning and memory impairment in rats fed a high saturated fat diet.
At the age of 1 month, three separate groups of Long-Evans rats were placed on 20% (w/w) fat (40% of calories) diets high in either saturated fatty acids (lard-based) or polyunsaturated fatty acids (soybean oil-based) or standard laboratory chow (Purina, 4.5% (w/w) fat). After 3 months, all rats were administered three tests of learning and memory--Olton's radial arm maze, a variable-interval delayed alternation task, and the Hebb-Williams maze series. The lard-fed group was impaired on all tests. The soybean oil-fed group was slightly impaired on some measures, relative to the chow-fed group, but consistently performed better than the lard-fed group. The results indicate that a diet high in saturated fatty acids can impair a wide range of learning and memory functions and are in line with biochemical and physiological evidence showing widespread effects of such diets on brain function.
Greenwood
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CE
Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Winocur
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D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D005228:Fatty Acids, Essential / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
D004041:Dietary Fats; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated; D005228:Fatty Acids, Essential